Brothers Hans and Ryner Gorowsky often have friends from Centennial High School at their house in Lino Lakes. In winter, they can usually can be found on the ice rink on the lake behind the Gorowsky home. They nicknamed it "Goro Gardens," which is easy to remember because it's painted on the boards.

When the brothers aren't on the family rink, they're often in the family basement playing pingpong with their buddies.

A lot of these friends are teammates on the Centennial boys hockey team, so there hasn't been much time for pickup hockey or pingpong because the Cougars are preparing for the state hockey tournament.

Centennial plays Wayzata on Thursday night, March 7, in a Class 2A quarterfinal game at the Xcel Energy Center.

If Centennial wins its first state title since 2004, when Hans' and Ryner's cousin Tom Gorowsky starred for the team, it's likely the brothers will play significant roles. Hans, a senior, has 25 goals and 23 assists, and Ryner, a junior, has 21 goals and 32 assists, and at least one point in his past 26 games. The brothers were named Tuesday to the Pioneer Press All-East Metro team.

Hockey is a Gorowsky family tradition. Besides cousin Tom, who was chosen Mr. Hockey and played at the University of Wisconsin, the Gorowsky boys' father, Dan, was a member of the Badgers' 1981 national championship team.

I talked with Hans and Ryner about their lakeside rink, their pingpong games and, of course, the state tournament.

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BS: You've played with your brother most of your life. Do you almost know what he's going to do on the ice before he does?

HG: Yeah, it's almost like a sixth sense. It's developed through pond hockey and playing together.

RG: We have a lot of chemistry. We live together. We go to school together. We know where the play will be before it happens.

BS: How much has it helped your game to have a backyard ice rink on the lake every winter?

HG: It's helped an incredible amount to be able to walk out 30 yards to your lake to shoot pucks, stick handle and spend countless hours one-on-one against your brother. We have six lights, boards and netting around the ends. Dad puts a lot of work into it. It's bigger than half a (regulation) rink.

RG: It's awesome. We're out there almost every day fiddling around with the puck. It's where we learned our stick-handling skills. We get all the guys over on the team. On weekends, we play just for fun.

BS: Is it fair to say one of you is a finesse player and the other a more physical player, and which one are you?

HG: I think Ryner is a tougher player than I am. He's definitely got a bit more edge than I do. He does a little bit more of the dirty work. We call him Honey Badger because he's not afraid of anything.

RG: Hans is finesse. I like to grind down in the corners.

BS: You have a pingpong table in your basement. Who's the better pingpong player?

HG: I'm going to say I am.

RG: Hans claims he's a better pingpong player, but I have to disagree to with that. He spent a hundred bucks on a pingpong paddle, but I beat him. I feed him his lunch.

BS: Tell me something few people know about your brother?

HG: He has trouble beating me in pingpong, and he can beat me up, too.

RG: Few people know he's a senior because he still has braces on.

BS: Your cousin, Tom, was Mr. Hockey and led Centennial to its only state championship. How much influence has he had on your game?

HG: I think every day this week I've talked to him on the phone about enjoying the moment and little things like faceoffs. His parents live right down the lake from us. He's had a huge influence.

RG: A bunch. He's been talking to us throughout the whole season, and we text with him just about every day.

BS: How old were you when you learned to play, and did your dad teach you?

HG: I started skating when I was 2 or 3 and didn't play hockey until I was 4 or 5. My dad taught me.

RG: I was 4 or 5 when I first laced the skates up. And my dad taught us. My dad went to Wisconsin and won a national championship there in 1981. He knows a lot about hockey.

BS: Your cousin and father both played at Wisconsin. Do the Badgers have a pipeline to the Gorowsky family, or do you want to play elsewhere?

HG: I'll play anywhere I get an offer. I've gotten no offers so far.

RG: Anywhere would be great. I don't have any preference.

BS: What other sports do you play?

HG: We used to play tennis; now I'm the only one playing tennis. And we used to play soccer. I kicked for the football team.

RG: I played soccer up to the ninth grade. It was pretty time-consuming. I gave it up for hockey. We go on the lake every summer to ski and wakeboard.

BS: Can your team win the state title if it plays at the level it played in the sectionals?

HG: Absolutely. I think we've got all the pieces in the puzzle -- from our goaltending to defense to the depth we have with our forwards.

RG: We played very well in the section playoffs, but we're going to have to take it up a few notches and crack down on a few errors to win state.